Tony Parker says UCLA’s defense has been soft, and Coach Steve Alford agrees
UCLA forward Tony Parker and guard Aaron Holiday battle Kansas forward Perry Ellis for rebounding position during a game Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Tony Parker sat at a podium on the Hawaiian island of Maui and challenged his teammates.
UCLA had just suffered its third loss of the season, to Wake Forest, pushing its record down to .500. Its next six games, beginning Sunday against Cal State Northridge, may be its toughest stretch of the season: It will play No. 1 Kentucky, No. 10 Gonzaga and No. 9 North Carolina,
Those games will be ugly, Parker said, unless the Bruins make a change.
“Toughness is what it comes down to,” Parker said. “We came out with a soft mentality, and we got beat. We’ll continue to get beaten until we toughen up.”
UCLA Coach Steve Alford said he saw some improvement during the three-game Maui Invitational tournament: the offense was effective, rebounding remained strong and the guards began to clean up sloppy ball-handling.
But the team struggled in the opening minutes against Nevada Las Vegas and came out flat for the first half against Kansas.
“I definitely agree with Tony,” Alford said.
He continued: “We definitely have to get tougher. And we have to do that in particular in the defensive end.”
What has been missing this season?
UCLA lost arguably its two best defenders, Norman Powell and Kevon Looney. Powell’s absence has been particular impactful.
After getting swept by Oregon State and Oregon last season, it was senior guard Powell who ripped into teammates. In their next game, the Bruins rebounded with their biggest win of the regular season, over Utah.
This season, Parker, the team’s only senior, has assumed Powell’s role. The challenge he issued Wednesday was evidence of the change.
But, so far, he and his teammates have been unable to fully replace Powell’s sturdy presence, or his perimeter defense.
Partly, Alford’s early experiment of starting two players who typically play center, the 6-foot-9 Parker and 7-footer Thomas Welsh, has made the defense unable to handle much movement or speed. When Parker was sidled with foul trouble against UNLV, and he was replaced by a more traditional forward, the Bruins’ defense was more effective.
“It’s something that we’ve got to play less of if the defense doesn’t improve,” Alford said.
But there are other troubling signs. Alford said the Bruins do not take enough charges. Their defensive positioning is off. Scoring has come too easily for opponents.
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“It’s nothing coaches can change,” Parker said. “We’ve got to go home and soul search.”
And where have the three-pointers gone?
UCLA’s three-point field-goal percentage, 31.8%, ranks 211th in the nation. Alford said the lack of three-pointers has been “a big concern.”
Under Alford, the Bruins’ three-point attempts have always been low, but not this low: this season, just 24% of their field-goal attempts have been from three-point range, 338th in the nation.
There hasn’t been a shift in offensive philosophy. There just haven’t been enough opportunities for guards Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton, who do not typically pass up open three-point shots.
“We’ve got to get Bryce and Isaac easier shots,” Steve Alford said. “We’ve got to work the offense to where that happens, because both Bryce and Isaac can really shoot it.”
Goloman to be reevaluated
Forward Gyorgy Goloman, who has been out since the start of the season with a stress fracture in his leg, will be evaluated by doctors Tuesday, Steve Alford said.
Alford initially said Goloman would be out six to eight weeks. Next week will the seventh he has missed.
“I’m hoping that by the time we get to the Kentucky game [on Thursday], we’ve at least got an update on what his status is and how long he’s going to be out,” Steve Alford said.
UCLA vs. Cal State Northridge
When: 4 p.m., Sunday.
Where: Pauley Pavilion.
On the air: TV: Pac-12 Networks; Radio: 570.
Update: The Matadors (2-4) will be the second opponent that UCLA (3-3) shares with USC. CSUN lost to the Trojans by 35 points less than a week ago, the second in a string of three straight losses. UCLA lost to Monmouth in its opener, a team USC later defeated. Freshman guard Jason Richardson leads CSUN in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game. The Bruins have lost their last two games, to Kansas and Wake Forest.
Twitter: @zhelfand
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